Networked applications have become prevalent in business, government, education, and with individual users. As networked applications become more ubiquitous, users may require access to greater-and-greater capabilities. In order to satisfy this demand, application service providers (ASPs) and users, such as corporations, may run increasingly complex systems. Complexity may arise because ASPs and users are connecting numerous pieces of equipment and software applications together to provide robust functionality. In many instances, the integrated equipment and software applications may be from various manufacturers. As a result, troubleshooting malfunctions may be cumbersome and time consuming.
Users may outsource the maintenance and/or support of their networks and equipment to third parties. Outsourcing may let users utilize entities having expertise in managing complex systems. For example, users may rely on the ASP for maintenance and support of hardware/software at the user premises as well as the hardware/software at the ASP facilities. Since ASPs may service many clients, automating problem reporting, problem diagnosis and problem resolution may be cost prohibitive due to the large number and/or types of computers and software applications being administered. As a result, ASPs may rely on manual processes for reporting, diagnosing and resolving problems. For example, a customer may call a help desk operator when a problem is discovered. The help desk operator may connect the customer with a specialist in order to diagnose the problem. When the problem is diagnosed, the specialist or the customer may have to contact a repair department to obtain, for example, a new software release. The customer may have to manually install the new software on its system to repair the problem.
In the above example, portions of the problem reporting, diagnosis and repair process were manually executed. Manual execution refers to processes substantially performed, or carried out by people. In contrast, automated execution refers to processes substantially performed by machine with little or no human intervention. Employing people in the problem reporting, diagnosis, and repair stages may cause delays and add to operating costs when compared to problem reporting, diagnosis, and repair stages that could be automated.